Cinematographic apparatus



June 6, 1933. E. QEHMICHEN 1,913,087

C IN EMATOGRAPHI C APPARATUS Filed Aug. 27, 1928 E. (Deb/widen mvew rm screen projection of the film,

the output ends of Patented June 6,1933

' mrmmn onnincnnn; or vnminrrennx, marten omnm'roemrmc arrarwrus' Application filed August 27, 1928, Serial $0.

In the known cinematographic apparatus employed for view taking, printing, screen projection," and like operations, the filmis drawn forward by an abrupt motion I through the guideway provided with the aperture serving for the exposure or the and it has been i found necessary to dispose at the input and the guideway suitable or film-drawing rollers, which rotate at a uniform rate and which draw forward the film by its perforations. One such roller draws the film fromthe untoothed rollers,

' winding bobbin towards the guideway; the

, second roller draws the film from the guideway towards the winding bobbin. The porthe guideway,

- drawing rollers.

tion of the film comprised'between the said film-drawing rollers is sufiiciently long to form loose loops at the respective ends of so that the abrupt traction exercised upon the periodic film-drawing mechanism will not be imparted to the portions of the film situated between the ortions of the film comprised between the obbins and the film- Without this precaution, in fact, the bobbins which have a relatively heavy weight,

' film situated in the guideway.

and especially when carrying a great length of film, will be. 0

erated in an irregular manner, and the, lm which is. at certain times suddenly stretched between the guideway and one or the other of the bobbins will be subjected to great stresses each time that the periphery speed of the bobbins difiers appreciably from the periodically variable speed imparted to the portion of the Obviously, the film which is, subjected to such stresses willbebroken or putout of use in a short time, and chiefly 1n the perforated parts engaging the film drawing elements provided with teeth or claws, and further, the image will'not have a fixed position on account of the tension produced in one or the other direction according to the case. a t v Hitherto ithas been feasibleto eliminate the film-drawing rollers only in the small apparatus employing relatively short films and the steady position'of the images.

these parts .of 'the film by Vward motion when the film is slackened.

302,326, and in France September 6, 1927.

and-hence using light bobbins having but little inertia; but in spite of this small inert1a,- it becomes necessary to reduce the prejudicial efl'ectsdue to the irregularro it tation of the bobbins and the irregular ten- *i V sion of the film, by employing brakes upon the said bobbins whose action varies automatically under the effect of the variations of the tension of the filmkBut this arrangement fails to answer the purpose as concerns the proper preservation of the films The present lnvention relates to a cine-' matographic apparatus without the use of toothed film-drawing rollers, and so disposed that even in the absence of such devices, and whatever the mass and the inertia of thewinding and unwinding bobbins may be, no exaggerate tension will be imparted to the film, thereby securing a perfect steady 'ection as well, as a very osition of the pro argepreservation of the film. r

- For the motion. of the film towards the periodic film-drawingmechanism, I employ means adapted to supply a fresh quantity of film each time that the tension of the filmat the input end of the guideway has a reduced value, and adapted to stop all for- When circulating between the ,guideway and the winding bobbin, the film passes over: elements which serve to limit to a very small value the tension which the winding bobbin may exercise upon the film issuing from the said-guideway. I

For this purpose, I may utilize the various devices which have been described in the French patent in my name No. 633,405

'of August 17, 1926 and No. 639,380 of the 15th of January 1927 and in the additions thereto, raphic apparatus which comprise film-draw gig rollers engaging the perforations of: the

m. The appended diagrammatic drawing shows by way of example an embodiment of the invention.

1 is the case containing the known mech- 'anism comprising teeth or claws 73 which impart to the portion of the film 2 travelso w the same being used in cinematog I a .riphery speed. The roller 9 is connectednon-desirable construction.

ling through the 'guideway 3 a periodic downward motion, allowing the successive travel of the pictures in front ofthe lens 74. The movement of the members 73 is obtained by means of any controlling device 75 connecting the said members to theshaft 5 towhich a uniform revolving motion is imparted.

6 is the unwinding bobbin which rotates upon its axle and can necessary be subjected to a slight permanent friction; 7 is the winding bobbin which is rotated at a uniform-rate by the driving shaft'5 by means of suitable power transmission gear which preferably comprises a friction coupling 7 6 in order to provide for the slipping of the bobbin relatively to its control each are combined with the respective pinions 1517-l8 whose gear ratio is such that all ofthe said rollers will have the same pewith the driving shaft 5 by gear 1920 in such manner that the common periphery speed of the three rollers will exceed the mean speed given to the film b the mech- I anism serving for the periodic orward motion (not shown). 1

It is to be understood that I avoid the necessityof employing toothed sprocket rollers, whichhave proven, in practice, to be a On the other hand when traveling from the said guideway to the wind ng bobbin, the film. passes around three stationary fric- 'tion elements 2l22=23 upon which it may be subjected to a great friction which is in direct relation to the variable tension.

As previously arranged, the elements '8 .9 10-212223.are preferably somewhat recessed at the middle part'in order that only the margins of the film will'be sub.- 'ect' to friction, and that the images willnot e scratched. v

It is to be noted that in the presentconstructionthe feeding means has. a smooth surface disposed at the entrance of the projection passage. Also stationary friction devices are placed at the end or exit of the passage. I

The stationary friction device at the exit of the passages is found to be most efficient. The operation is as follows: I Due to-the adhesion thus produced, th

film is at once drawn forward bysaid roll- Lorene? ers, and a new portion of film is supplied to the mechanism serving for the periodic advance, and at a *speed such that there will 1 not be any great tension between the said mechanism and the rollers. 10 may. also be displaced due to the elasticity Since the roller of the spring 14, there is no danger that the film Wlll be suddenly. stretched when drawn down and is brought upon the said rollers.

Also, since the roller 10 is moved concentrically with the ,roller9, the pinion 17 rolls upon the pinion 16 and is glven an additional motion, swm upon theibi]- er 10 will bedra wards the guide-way at a? speed which is still reater' than the periphery speed of the rol ers 8 and 9.

When the film is thus drawn forward due to its adhesion to the rollers 8, 9 and 10, its portlon and comprised between the roller 8 and thebobbin 6 will be stretched and will drive the said bobbin so that it may evercome the resistance due to the inertia of the said film-carrying bobbin, shouldjhe latter not rotate at a uniform rate. But the tension thus produced in the part ca offers no obstacle to the preservation of the film nor to the fixed condition of the projected image, firstly because the said tension canv not be imparted to the portion ab,due to the relatively great length of the loops of the-film in contact with the rollers 89-10, and secondly becausethe said tension is supported, not by the narrow'surfaceof con- .tact withthe supply. elements, but by the relativelyv large parts of' the film in contact with the rollers 89-10..

When the downward traction exercised by the film-drawing mechanism ceases, the tension on the part a=b at once disappears; the roller 10 is raised into theinoperativc position, and the film which is slightlyscp- I arate d from the rollers 89-10 is no longer drawn forward by the latter although the rollers continue to turn at a uniform rate.

Onthe other hand, each time that the film is drawn forward through the guideway, the

portion 6 f of the "film situated between the guideway andthe stationary friction element 2l2223 becomes loose; and it is again gradually stretched due to the slipping of the film upon said parts as it is wound by the bobbin 7. Due to the relatively great length of the winding arcs on the said parts, the variable tensions which can be exercised b the bobbin 7 upon the part 9 h or" the fi mean only be imparted in a greatly reduced degree to the portion 6 f of the film, and no obstacle will be offered to the stationary condition of the ima es nor will there bejany appreciable tractlon exercised upon the claws or teeth .of the periodic filmdrawing mechanism.

It should be noted that instead of three film-drawing rollers 8910, or three frie tion elements 2122-23, a different numof the rollers 8-910 which on one or the other side the film passes, t e

' feeding speed'of the frictionally' driven soon as the said intermittent driving means ber may be employed. It is not necessary to give a cylindrical form to the frictional parts, and frictional elements of any other. suitable form may be employed. It is not even essential that the said elements should be stationary, for it will suflice that when placed in contact with the film they will delay its-motion, on the contrary to the action ave accelerating friction surfaces. Otherwise stated, if I consider the relative speed of 'the said friction surfaces with reference to the mean speed of the film, which surfaces are situated of the operating oint of the mechanism for the periodic travel of the film, it is necessary that the said relative speed shall be directed towards the said operating point.

Bythe use of such friction surfacesnnd due to the absence of toothed film drawing rollers, the part of the film controlled by the mechanism for the periodic travel of the film is practically shielded from all external efforts due to the inertia of the bobbins and to the control of the winding bobbin. Except for the friction of the film in the guideway, this portion is onlyrequired to support the efforts due to its'own inertia which is very small. I claim: 1. In a cinemato raphic apparatus, the combination of a pro ection gate, an unwinding reel and a winding reel, means for intermittently driving the film in the said gate, feeding members at the entrance of the said gate, the said members comprising rollers havin an even surface on which said rollers rotating at reater than the mean hn, the said film being by the saidrollers as a peripheral speed produce on the film a tension of small value, and fixed friction members on which the film passes when issuing from the said gate, means for causing the said last-mentioned members to frictionally limit to a small value, the tension which can be exerted by the said winding reel on the film issuing from the said gate.

2. In a cinematographic apparatus, the combination of .a projection gate, an unwinding reel and a winding reel, means for intermittently driving the film in the said gate, feeding members at the entrance of the said gate, the said members comprising rollers having an even surface on which the film passes, gears connected to the said rollers and adapted to drive the latter at a peripheral speed greater than the mean. feeding speed of the film, thesaid film being frictionally driven by the said rollers as soon as ithe said intermittent drivin means produce 011 the film a tension of sma 1 value, fixed friction members on which the and , gate,

being stationary,

film passes when issuing from the said gate,

means for .causing the said last-mentioned members to frictionally limit to a small value, the tension which can be exerted on the film issuing from the said gate.

'3. In a cinemato raphic apparatus, the combination-of a pro ection gate, an unwinding reel and a winding reel, means for intermittently driving thefilm in the said 'gate, feedin t e said members comprising three rotary rollers the axes of the first two rollers and the axis of the third roller bein movable concentrically with the second rol er, resilient means for restoring the third roller in opposition to the tension exerted by the film on the said roller, gears connected to the said rollers and members at the entrance of the said i adapted to drive the latter at a peripheral 7 speed greater than the mean feeding-speed of the film, the said film being frictionally driven by the said rollers as soon. as the i said intermittent driving means produce on the film a tension of smallvalue,

film passes when issuing fromthe said gate, the said members frictionally limiting to a small value the tension which can be exerted by the said winding reel on the film issuing and rela-. tively fixed friction members on which the 

